3 Ways Reading Increases Your Attention Span
It helps you by slowing down in the world of information overload.
I never knew the mental health benefits of reading until I developed it as a daily habit just after graduating from college.
It is over one year. It has worked wonders for me in terms of imagination, intelligence and social interactions.
It is also helping in my writing career. Today is day 113 of my blogging streak. Every time I talk about the emotional journey of how far I’ve come, I look back at the crazy amount of reading I’ve done till now. I am accelerating my learning curve. The graph is exponential!
All this happened because reading is beneficial in improving the attention span by training our brain.
Here are the three aspects that impacted me significantly. If you stick with reading for at least a month, you will see these benefits for yourself. There are numerous other advantages too, but I’ve covered the ones that are relatively easier to feel.
1. Reading challenges your thinking to the curb
I’m reading this book by Ryan Holiday: “Ego Is The Enemy”. This book is damn hard to read. Why? Because it shows almost every reason for our failure is ego.
If you don’t agree with me, take some time and think again by drilling down to the root of the problem. I am sure you will hit the ego spot mid-way.
I did so, and the truth hurts! This book also cuts right through the heart. To reflect on my life, I take around three days break whenever I finish a chapter from this book.
Ego means putting a sense of self in any situation. The moment you put a label on yourself, you’re sliding from the dynamic reality that keeps on changing, unlike the self-imposed tag.
This book makes me think about all the wrong behaviour patterns I practiced for short-term satisfaction which were detrimental for my long-term happiness.
One example is: wishing to please everyone by trying to fit in. You can never do that. Bite me, but even God can’t do that. That’s why there are some atheist people, hello! I hope the above statement doesn’t start a feud in the comments section. I just couldn’t get a better analogy!
2. Your brain is evolving while reading
Every time you read something, you’re getting value out of it. Whenever you read something new, your brain is working hard to make new connections to grasp the concepts you just learned.
New information, new neural pathways, new connections, improving cognitive skills! It is all happening as you are reading this sentence right now.
Word by word, your brain is evolving. Isn’t it cool? You just made some new synapses ( it connects two nerve fibres and it responsible for signal transfer ) while reading this piece. By the time you finish this article, there’ll be even more. Let that sink in. Zap! You just generated another synapse!
Here is a high-level practical example of brain evolution:
- If you read this blog once, you will remember it for some time.
- If you take a power nap after reading it, your short-term memory will become robust.
- The third option is to read it repeatedly. Why will you do it anyway? To feed valuable information to the brain and strengthen the nerve connections that were developing the first time you were reading. It is to convince the mind about the importance of a task.
The longer you do it, the more chances are that it will go in the long-term memory. Long-term memory is powerful. Kids and adults both have it!
3. Reading makes you a patient conversationalist
If you read a book, you already know you can’t wrap in one session. Mainly, if you’re starting, you will test your patience first-hand.
For example, I started by reading only short blogs a year ago. They were mostly 3 or 4 minutes read. Then I developed the patience to read 5 minutes blog without distraction. Then, I challenged myself by starting to read books.
I was curious how long I could read without distraction. My attention span is also improving while reading because focus and concentration are required to absorb the learnt topics.
If I just read and don’t share with anyone, it makes me wanna puke. I’m a giver. Not in a general sense, but when it comes to values, the more you give, the more you’ll realise how gratuitous it is to improve the lives of people around you.
You can even do this by talking empathetically. You can also do it by becoming a great listener. Being a great conversationalist is all about becoming a kind listener.
Final words
No advice is worth it if you don’t try. Same is for reading. Words are all around you. Your Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, work-hours — everywhere words are scattered. In this era of information overload, it is arduous to block time for quality reading.
I wanted to try because I’ve heard so many benefits to it. Do you know what I did? I started small and kept going with a long-term goal in mind.
I started one year ago by increasing my reading duration to 30 minutes daily, and now my attention span while reading is as large as 49 minutes. Yes! It did not happen in one go. It happened with concentrated and deliberate efforts to eliminate all distractions.
Even you can do it too! If you want to see the fantastic benefits of quality reading, here is a 5-step guide that will ripe remarkable results:
- Start small, say “quality reading” of 10 minutes per day about things you care. The benefits will tempt you to increase the duration.
- Maintain a daily habit. It means you’re setting your body’s natural clock to work for you! It is the scientific reason why showing up every day is a proven way to master any habit. You are training your subconscious mind by exposing yourself to read every day.
- To build confidence, mark a tick on a paper calendar every day you read.
- BONUS: You will eventually start writing also, like me. Hi!
- Think from a long-term perspective because good things take time. Give it at least one month of dedicated efforts and see the magic it does to your mind and your overall life.
This blog belongs to a series of posts I am publishing on a daily streak. Target-1 was 21 days. Target-2 was 100 days. Target-3 is 150 days. Today is day 113. Here is the first blog that started the streak.
Thank You for reading! See you tomorrow!
~ S.
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